Hub71, Abu Dhabi's government-backed tech ecosystem, has earmarked $2 billion for web3-related projects to be distributed through its newly launched Hub71+ Digital Assets initiative. The money will finance a whole range of innovations across decentralized online space, including blockchain- and metaverse-related applications. The new initiative will also provide web3 startups with access to various programs and connect them to investment, corporate, and government partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and worldwide.
The project, headquartered at Hub71 in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) financial center located in Al Maryah Island, aims to support web3 startups with "a progressive regulatory environment and world-class blockchain and virtual asset infrastructure." The press release names FABRIC, the research and innovation center of First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), as the initiative's anchor partner and unspecified digital asset exchanges and service providers as other participating entities.
According to Ahmad Ali Alwan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Hub71, "decentralisation is the future of the blockchain-based internet, and web3 startups will play a significant role in accelerating this transition." Alwan also stressed that collaboration with institutional actors such as ADGM, FAB, and FABRIC as well as business leaders will make it easier for startups to finance, develop, and market their products. Especially since they will be benefiting from the safe environment of the largest regulated jurisdiction of digital assets in the Middle East and North Africa region
UAE was one of the first countries to jump on the web3 bandwagon and engage in various blockchain and metaverse projects, with cities like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah leading the way. In the summer of last year, UAE prince launched a metaverse strategy to create 40 thousand jobs by 2030, a few months later Multiverse Labs launched Sharjahverse, a metaverse replica of the third-largest UAE's emirate, and earlier in February this year, Venom Ventures Fund, announced its plans to place $1 billion in web3 projects with a chief goal of fostering the crypto ecosystem in UAE.
